Greater Hume Council responds to Culcairn Solar Farm approval

Mayor Heather Wilton told The Border Mail the day after the Independent Planning Commission conditionally approved the large-scale 350 megawatts Culcairn Solar Farm that council will now wait until a 56 day objection period lapses.

And while Cr Wilton said the decision won't ease some of the angst that is around in the community regarding the project, it was not a surprise decision.

"It was an outcome that was probably expected by council," she said.

"I know there will be people that will disagree with me and council, but I think it was showing evidence that it would have been given the tick, and it did.

In other news

"There will be a certain amount of angst still there for a group of people but the outcome probably has relieved it for another group of people.

"But there are still another 56 days that people can lodge an objection so I think until we go through that process it is not quite delivered yet.

"We will waiting to see what happens over the next month and a half to see if that approval will be challenged or not."

Cr Wilton said council is "reasonably comfortable" with the conditions of the approval.

"At this point council won't be objecting and I don't anticipate it will be," she said.

"We are reasonably comfortable that all the processes that were put in place to look at the whole project as it happened.

"The developers have taken into consideration certain things that we were looking for to change some of the specifications for the whole project.

"Most of those things are in the final project so we just wait and see now.

"We will be certainly waiting for the 56 days now, but I don't think there is anything for council to do further."

In their reasoning for the decision IPC chair Andrew Hutton and Professor Zaida Lipman said the project was in the public interest.

The Commission received 274 public submissions in relation to the project, 170 in objection, 102 in support, and three simply commenting.

The project is expected to create 350 construction jobs over the 18-month build and seven ongoing jobs for the 30-year life of the site.

The full outcome can be read at ipcn.nsw.gov.au.